By Karen Rubin, editor@news-photos-features.com, news-photos-features.com

In his State of the County speech, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman focused on public safety, law enforcement, boasted about the county’s alliance with ICE and its ban on transgender school kids playing on girls’ teams, as the key accomplishments  of his administration.

Blakeman, who declared his intention to run for governor the day after his reelection, thanked the audience of county officials and electeds for the honor of serving as the county executive, closed out his 20-minute speech saying, “Looking ahead my commitment will remain stronger than ever. I want us all to continue to thrive. We have the lowest poverty rate in the state- that makes me happy. I want all our residents to live in prosperity, have a good job, good benefits, enjoy not just the necessities but luxuries – vacation, going out to dinner, buying daughter a prom dress. I want Nassau County to remain safest, most affordable, healthiest to live, work, and raise a family in all of America”

Missing from this speech was his usual jabs at Governor Hochul – such as Hochul’s audacity at proposing a no-nonsense plan to build affordable housing – which is interesting in light of his declaration to challenge her for governor. But the speech deliberately omitted any mention of his aspirations or the fact that if he is serious about running for governor, that will be his focus until November, leaving the county’s administration to an unelected underling.

Blakeman offered little in the way of economic development achievements, beyond reducing the time for approvals for business applications. Most of the significant projects were actually through the state’s Downtown Revitalization Program, infrastructure grants and other programs. But he was unable to cite any projects to mitigate climate change, enhance resilience or sustainability, or build upon efforts to turn Long Island into a biomedical, science and research hub.

Blakeman, who vigorously opposed Governor Hochul’s efforts to increase the supply of affordable housing, uncharacteristically cited one project: Frank Stiller’s Tunnels to Towers Foundation is investing $20 million to turn “a rundown, crime ridden” stretch of Long Beach into 50 new homes for vets, first responders and Gold Star families, “which guarantees all who served … a safe and welcoming place in Nassau.”

He boasted of not having raised property taxes for the entirety of his time in office – not mentioning that he has been sitting on close to $1 billion in unspent federal and state grant money, including almost $100 million in opioid settlement funds, in order to use the interest revenue.

But what he is most proud of are the policies and programs that mimic the Trump/MAGA administration’s “anti-woke” – that is anti-political correctness – policies:

“Under our leadership, we stand up for fairness, commonsense in sports- in Nassau County boys play with boys, girls play with girls,” he declared to a standing ovation. “Girls should not be forced to compete in an unfair, unsafe environment. We won’t have bullying. We always protect our girls.”

Blakeman also took a jab at the state’s Education Department which has banned the use of Native American mascots. “My admin will continue to support the traditions and histories of local communities. We are a staunch ally to keep Massapequa the Chiefs, and Wantagh the Warriors, resisting Albany’s efforts to erase our history.” (Actually, the Indian American mascots they have used are not the same tribe that actually lived in Massapequa or Wantagh.)

But he is most visibly connecting to Trump’s policy with his anti-immigrant stance, boasting “Nassau County under my executive order is not a sanctuary county,” receiving another standing ovation.

“In partnership with our federal partners in ICE, Nassau County coordinated the largest gang take down in history – hundreds of arrests, we removed dangerous criminals – MS13.. Our partnership with ICE has removed over 200 illegal migrants who committed crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, carjacking and human trafficking,” Blakeman said, adding that there were no raids at schools, hospitals, churches, daycare. “All arrests are targeted to removing criminals from community.”

He was referring to an incident where over the course of four days in August, 42 people were arrested, of which 25 were gang members, mostly of MS-13.

Of these, 33 of the offenders were in ICE custody without bond, pending removal.

“If there was somebody that was apprehended, and that individual was going to be released because of the cashless bail laws, we notified ICE, came and picked them up, so that they would not continue to do harm to our community,” Blakeman said. (https://abc7ny.com/post/ms13-gang-arrest-42-arrested-4-days-nassau-countys-largest-takedowns/17586503/)

But he tried to moderate his stance, announcing he is working with federal officials to launch a guest worker program aimed at helping businesses fill jobs across Nassau County. The program would focus on what he described as “law-abiding” immigrants.

“Our business community needs these workers. We will continue to work to improve their situations in Nassau County by working with federal officials,” Blakeman said.

Blakeman focused almost entirely on law enforcement, noting that Nassau County is once again (as it was under his Democratic predecessor Laura Curran) the safest county of its size in the country.

Actually violent crime is down across the state and New York City remains the safest big city in the country largely because of federal funding and historic state investments in new crime-fighting initiatives statewide including Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative. SNUG Street Outreach program, Crime Analysis Centers, and Project RISE.

But while Blakeman likes to focus on public safety, he has ignored the epidemic of traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities in Nassau County, a no-show at summits and conferences dedicated to road safety.

Traffic fatalities in Nassau County rose to at least 78 in 2025, up from 67 in 2024,  according to data from Newsday’s fatality tracker, while serious injuries increased significantly in 2024 (latest available data) to 873, up from 744 in 2023, according to Newsday. The increase in traffic fatalities in Nassau County is despite the fact traffic fatalities fell across New York State in 2025. Newsday has had an ongoing investigation into Long Island’s Dangerous Roads, concluding that the area has experienced higher rates of fatal crashes due to heavy car reliance, aggressive driving, and dangerous road designs for pedestrians and cyclists. 

Almost at the same time as Blakeman was delivering his speech at the County’s Theodore Roosevelt Legislative Building, two pedestrians were struck and killed in separate accidents in Roslyn. 63-year old Elena Crowley, worked as a security aide at Roslyn HIgh School, was struck by a 57-year-old man driving a 2025 GMC pickup truck on Briard Street; earlier in the day, 69-year-old woman, Claudia Moncada of Glen Cove, was crossing the eastbound lanes of Glen Cove Road when she was struck by a red 2018 Dodge Challenger driven by a 26-year-old man traveling north.

Blakeman has done nothing to attempt to incorporate the recommendations of traffic engineers to improve road safety, nor promote a public education campaign aimed at encouraging a responsible, safe-driving culture.

His one public statement on traffic enforcement came from an attack on the state legislature which was contemplating restricting law enforcement’s ability to stop drivers as a pretext to checking their immigration status.

By the same token, he has done nothing for public health, using the same “ostrich with head in the sand” as Trump, resulting in hundreds of thousands of needless deaths. Coming into the office during the Omnicron version of the COVID-19 epidemic, he immediately declared COVID finished, and has never published incidents of coronavirus or flu, or urged residents to get vaccinations and boosters, in light of the administration’s anti-vax crusade.

Democratic Response

In her Democratic response, Nassau County Legislature Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton declared, “Tonight we heard a polished speech filled with promises. But Nassau County residents deserve results, and after five years, the gap between Bruce Blakeman’s rhetoric and reality couldn’t be clearer.”

DeRiggi-Whitton pointed to several key promises the County Executive made when he first ran for office that remain unfulfilled.

“When he ran in 2021, Bruce Blakeman promised to fix Nassau’s broken assessment system,” she said. “Five years later, it’s more broken than ever because he kept assessment rolls frozen, a move that hurts taxpayers while benefiting tax grievance firms that fund his campaigns.”

She also criticized the administration for failing to deliver on promised tax relief.

“He promised tax cuts. Not one has been delivered,” DeRiggi-Whitton said. “Instead, $385 million in federal pandemic relief meant to help families and small businesses was used to plug budget holes while millions were spent on politically connected lawyers, parades, and galas.”

In contrast to his boasts about adding 600 police officers to the ranks and intention to add more, DeRiggi-Whitton said the administration has failed to address critical public safety staffing shortages.

“Police staffing is below required levels. 911 operator positions remain dangerously understaffed,” she said. “Those are basic responsibilities of government, and this administration is falling short.”

She also raised concerns about the County Executive’s decision to divert detectives to assist federal immigration enforcement while local staffing shortages persist.

 

DeRiggi-Whitton further criticized the administration for failing to deploy opioid settlement funding meant to combat addiction.

“More than $100 million in opioid settlement funds are sitting unspent while families continue to lose loved ones to addiction,” she said. “Those funds were meant to save lives — not make a budget look better.”

She also cited a lack of transparency surrounding the County Executive’s controversial armed volunteer deputy program – derided as his private militia.

“Nassau residents deserve transparency, especially when taxpayer dollars and public safety are involved,” DeRiggi-Whitton said.

DeRiggi-Whitton concluded by urging residents to judge the administration by its record.

“Campaign promises are easy,” she said. “Governing requires focus. Nassau residents deserve leadership that is focused on their needs, not personal political ambition.”

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